An ad earlier this week from Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy sparked outrage from both sides of the aisle, but a political strategist in the state says that the record of his opponent, former health director Amy Acton, is what ultimately makes the difference in the race. The ad features Acton’s estranged mother, Donna Arthur, accusing her daughter of lying about her childhood and questioning her fitness to serve as governor. Acton responded by saying she and her brother were removed from their mother’s custody after her stepfather was accused of sexually abusing her, and Ramaswamy was quickly blasted by Democrats and some Republicans over the ad, which he has defended and spent millions to run over the next couple of weeks.
The controversy over the ad went viral on social media and was even commented on by President Donald Trump, who strongly defended Ramaswamy. Ohio attorney and political strategist Mehek Cooke told Fox News Digital that Acton’s record is what should be under the microscope, not the ad. "I think that we have to really shift from Vivek's recent ad into the most important question for Ohioans is, who do you want governing the state of Ohio?
We clearly can't trust Amy Acton, and she has a record of that," Cooke told Fox News Digital. RAMASWAMY TORCHES DEM RIVAL OVER 'OUTRAGEOUS' COVID-19 CLAIM: 'SPEWING LIES' Acton’s record involves controversies both professionally and personally, many of which have been focused on by ads in the state of Ohio. Acton served as health director under Republican Gov.
Mike DeWine during the first months of COVID-19, when Ohio closed schools, shuttered bars and restaurants, restricted businesses and imposed a statewide stay-at-home order. She also signed orders restricting nursing-home visitors, closing senior centers and adult daycare facilities, limiting mass gatherings and closing gyms and personal-service businesses before leaving the position amid pushback for the negative impact the lockdowns had. 'GENERATION COVID' EXPLORES THE LASTING TOLL OF PANDEMIC-ERA SCHOOL CLOSURES "She worked as a health director for Mike DeWine and left after masking our children, shutting down our state, and yes, Mike DeWine's name is on those orders, but at the end of the day, it was Amy Acton's signature," Cooke said. "And she's the one who pushed for locking down our kids.
I don't ever want to hire somebody who quits on the state during a pandemic. I can't imagine if she had another meltdown, whether it was managing our state budget or anything else. So people don't trust Amy." Acton’s handling of nursing homes has also drawn criticism in pro-Ramaswamy advertisements on the airwaves.
Ohio imposed a broad visitor ban at nursing homes and similar facilities in March 2020, separating residents from family members during the early months of the pandemic. The Ohio Department of Health was later sued over its refusal to release facility-level COVID-19 death data. An Ohio appeals court ruled that the department violated the state’s public-records law by refusing to provide information about nursing-home deaths.
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